Hoover graduated from Stanford in 1895 with a degree in geology. He had trouble locating employment after graduation, and ended up working at a gold mine pushing carts of ore. But by 1896 he managed to land a job with Louis Janin, a mining engineer in San Francisco. While officially he had an office job, his knowledge of mines made him valuable to Janin, who recommended young Hoover for employment with the London firm of Bewick, Moreing, and Company. The company hired the twenty-two-year-old Hoover and sent him to Australia to evaluate prospective mines.